Science Fair Projects Ideas - Integer BASIC

All Science Fair Projects

      

Science Fair Project Encyclopedia for Schools!

  Search    Browse    Forum  Coach    Links    Editor    Help    Tell-a-Friend    Encyclopedia    Dictionary     

Science Fair Project Encyclopedia

For information on any area of science that interests you,
enter a keyword (eg. scientific method, molecule, cloud, carbohydrate etc.).
Or else, you can start by choosing any of the categories below.

Integer BASIC

Integer BASIC, written by Steve Wozniak, was the BASIC interpreter included in ROM on the original Apple II computer at release in 1977, and as such was the first version of BASIC used by many early home computer owners. Thousands of programs were written in Integer BASIC. Apple originally called it "Apple BASIC", the name "Integer BASIC" was used for it after Applesoft BASIC became available.

The most frequently cited flaw of Integer BASIC was, as one might expect from the name, that its variables were all 16-bit integers and it was very difficult to write a program that could do calculations using floating point numbers. It was therefore very difficult to write financial or math programs. Apple Computer licensed a more full-featured (but also much slower) version of BASIC from Microsoft, introduced some tweaks, named it Applesoft BASIC, and included it in the ROMs of the Apple II Plus, which was released in 1979. Integer BASIC was relegated to a file on a floppy disk that Apple II Plus users could load into a RAM card for backward compatibility, if needed. Applesoft BASIC was included in the ROMs of all subsequent Apple II models, and became the foundation of probably hundreds of thousands of programs.

The Integer BASIC ROMs also included a "mini-assembler" that let programmers type assembly language programs, line by line, which were entered into memory. This was of course far easier than looking up the corresponding opcodes in machine language and typing those in. These ROMs also included an interpreter for a simple 16-bit assembly language, called Sweet16, which was very simple, compact and worthy of study. These two features, some cassette tape I/O routines, and a few seldom-used floating point math routines were removed in the transition from the Integer BASIC ROMs to the Apple II Plus ROMs, in order to accommodate the larger size of the Applesoft BASIC interpreter.

Last updated: 08-03-2005 17:03:16
10-26-2009 08:16:03
The contents of this article is licensed from www.wikipedia.org under the GNU Free Documentation License. Click here to see the transparent copy and copyright details
Science kits, science lessons, science toys, maths toys, hobby kits, science games and books - these are some of many products that can help give your kid an edge in their science fair projects, and develop a tremendous interest in the study of science. When shopping for a science kit or other supplies, make sure that you carefully review the features and quality of the products. Compare prices by going to several online stores. Read product reviews online or refer to magazines.

Start by looking for your science kit review or science toy review. Compare prices but remember, Price $ is not everything. Quality does matter.
Science Fair Coach
What do science fair judges look out for?
ScienceHound
Science Fair Projects for students of all ages
All Science Fair Projects.com Site
All Science Fair Projects Homepage
Search | Browse | Links | From-our-Editor | Books | Help | Contact | Privacy | Disclaimer | Copyright Notice